Scalable notification delivery service

• US 20030163533A1
• Filed: 02/28/2002
• Published: 08/28/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Serdy, Frank Stephen, McNamara, Donald James
• Granted Patent: US 7,024,459 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A notification service that efficiently scales to the number and variety of notifications and users being serviced. The notification service is separated into three general functional components. A listener component receives a notification in a network format suitable for transmitting the notification over a network. The listener component translates the notification into an internal processing format used by the notification service. The notification is then forwarded to a routing component that determines a category associated with the notification, and performs a set of one or more operations on the notification based on its category. Finally, the notification service is forwarded to a delivery service for delivery of the notification to the notification sink. The listener component, the routing component, and the delivery component may each be scaled in order to adjust for current processing loads using load balancing functionality.

Claims

1. In a network that includes at least one notification source, at least one notification sink, and a notification service that facilitates notification delivery, a method for delivering notifications from a notification source to a notification sink, the method comprising the following:

an act of a listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format;

an act of the listener component translating the notification from the network format into an internal processing format used by the notification service;

an act of determining a category of the notification;

an act of performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification; and

an act of a delivery component of the notification service receiving the notification for delivery to the notification sink.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of a listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format comprises the following:

an act of the listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in the form of an HTTP post request.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of a listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format comprises the following:

an act of the listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in the form of an XML document.

4. A method in accordance with claim 3, wherein the act of a listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format comprises the following:

an act of the listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in the form of an XML document within the HTTP post request.

5. A method in accordance with claim 4, wherein the act of a listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format comprises the following:

an act of the listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in the form of an XML document within a SOAP request within an HTTP post request.

6. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of the listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format comprises the following:

an act of the listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from a wireless device.

7. A method in accordance with claim 6, further comprising the following:

an act of delivering the notification to a mobile service provider.

8. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of the listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source comprises the following:

an act of the listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from a mobile service provider.

9. A method in accordance with claim 8, further comprising the following:

an act of delivering the notification to a wireless device.

10. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of determining a category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of determining that the notification is an instant message.

11. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of determining a category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of failing to detect an express category of the notification; and

an act of determining that the notification is of a default category based on the failure to detect an express category.

12. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of determining a category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of determining that the notification is a buddy list related notification.

13. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of determining a category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of determining that the notification is a news related notification.

14. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of determining a category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of determining that the notification is a mobile-originated notification.

15. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of determining whether to check that the notification should be muted.

16. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of accessing a user profile associated with a s ender or receiver of the notification.

17. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of authenticating.

18. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of inserting an advertisement into the notification.

19. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of formatting the notification for the destination device.

20. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of determining whether the user has exceeded a message limit.

21. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of determining the operations to perform based on the category.

22. A method in accordance with claim 21, wherein the act of determining the operations to perform based on the category comprises the following:

an act of referring to an XML document that lists operations to perform for at least the category of the notification.

23. A method in accordance with claim 21, further comprising the following:

an act of determining the order of operations to perform based on the category.

24. A computer program product for use in a network that includes at least one notification source, at least one notification sink, and a notification service that facilitates notification delivery, the computer program product for implementing a method for delivering notifications from a notification source to a notification sink, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media have stored thereon the following:

computer-executable instructions for a listener component detecting the receipt of a notification from the notification source in a network format;

computer-executable instructions for translating the notification from the network format into an internal processing format used by the notification service;

computer-executable instructions for determining a category of the notification;

computer-executable instructions for performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification; and

computer-executable instructions for a delivery component detecting the receiving the receipt of the notification for delivery to the notification sink.

25. A computer program product in accordance with claim 24, wherein the one or more computer-readable media are physical storage media.

26. A computer program product in accordance with claim 24, wherein the one or more computer-readable media further have stored thereon the following:

computer-executable instructions for delivering the notification to a wireless device.

27. A computer program product in accordance with claim 24, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprise the following:

computer-executable instructions for determining whether to check that the notification should be muted.

28. A computer program product in accordance with claim 24, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprise the following:

computer-executable instructions for accessing a user profile associated with a sender or receiver of the notification.

29. A computer program product in accordance with claim 24, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprise the following:

computer-executable instructions for authenticating.

30. A computer program product in accordance with claim 24, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprise the following:

computer-executable instructions for inserting an advertisement into the notification.

31. A computer program product in accordance with claim 24, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprise the following:

computer-executable instructions for formatting the notification for the destination device.

32. A computer program product in accordance with claim 24, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprise the following:

computer-executable instructions for determining whether the user has exceeded a message limit.

33. A computer program product in accordance with claim 24, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification comprise the following:

computer-executable instructions for determining the operations to perform based on the category.

34. A computer program product in accordance with claim 33, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification further comprise the following:

computer-executable instructions for determining the order of operations to perform based on the category.

35. In a network that includes at least one notification source, at least one notification sink, and a notification service that facilitates notification delivery, a method for delivering notifications from a notification source to a notification sink, the method comprising the following:

an act of a listener component of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format;

an act of the listener component translating the notification from the network format into an internal processing format used by the notification service;

a step for processing the notification based on a category of the notification; and

an act of a delivery component of the notification service receiving the processed notification for delivery to the notification sink.

36. A method in accordance with claim 35, wherein the step for processing the notification based on a category of the notification comprises the following:

an act of determining a category of the notification; and

an act of performing a set of one or more operations on the notification in its internal processing format based on the category of the notification.

37. In a network that includes at least one notification source, at least one notification sink, and a notification service that facilitates notification delivery, a method for delivering notifications from a notification source to a notification sink, the method comprising the following:

an act of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format using a listener component of one or more listener components;

an act of the listener component translating the notification from the network format into an internal processing format used by the notification service;

an act of the listener component placing the notification in its internal processing format into a corresponding outgoing queue;

an act of a routing component of one or more routing components receiving the notification from the outgoing queue corresponding to the listener component at a corresponding incoming queue;

an act of the routing component placing the notification in a corresponding outgoing queue;

an act of determining a delivery component to route the notification to of one or more delivery components; and

an act of the delivery component receiving the notification, the delivery component configured to deliver the notification to the notification sink.

38. A method in accordance with claim 37, wherein the act of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format using a listener component of one or more listener components comprises the following:

an act of the listener component receiving a notification from the notification source in the form of an HTTP post request.

39. A method in accordance with claim 37, wherein the act of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format using a listener component of one or more listener components comprises the following:

an act of the listener component receiving a notification from the notification source in the form of an XML document.

40. A method in accordance with claim 37, wherein the act of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format using a listener component of one or more listener components comprises the following:

an act of the listener component receiving a notification from the notification source in the form of an XML document within the HTTP post request.

41. A method in accordance with claim 37, wherein the act of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format using a listener component of one or more listener components comprises the following:

an act of the listener component receiving a notification from the notification source in the form of an XML document within a SOAP request within an HTTP post request.

42. A computer program product for use in a network that includes at least one notification source, at least one notification sink, and a notification service that facilitates notification delivery, the computer program product for implementing a method for delivering notifications from a notification source to a notification sink, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon the following:

computer-executable instructions for detecting the receipt of a notification from the notification source in a network format using a listener component of one or more listener components;

computer-executable instructions for the listener component translating the notification from the network format into an internal processing format used by the notification service;

computer-executable instructions for the listener component placing the notification in its internal processing format into a corresponding outgoing queue;

computer-executable instructions for a routing component of one or more routing components receiving the notification from the outgoing queue corresponding to the listener component at a corresponding incoming queue;

computer-executable instructions for the routing component placing the notification in a corresponding outgoing queue;

computer-executable instructions for determining a delivery component to route the notification to of one or more delivery components; and

computer-executable instructions for the delivery component receiving the notification, the delivery component configured to deliver the notification to the notification sink.

43. A computer program product in accordance with claim 42, wherein the one or more computer-readable media are physical storage media.

44. In a network that includes at least one notification source, at least one notification sink, and a notification service that facilitates notification delivery, a method for delivering notifications from a notification source to a notification sink, the method comprising the following:

a step for translating the notification so as to be processed by the notification service in a scalable fashion;

a step for processing the notification in a scalable fashion; and

an act of the delivery component receiving the notification, the delivery component configured to deliver the notification to the notification sink.

45. A method in accordance with claim 44, wherein the step for translation the notification so as to be processed by the notification service in a scalable fashion comprises the following:

an act of the notification service receiving a notification from the notification source in a network format using a listener component of one or more listener components;

an act of the listener component translating the notification from the network format into an internal processing format used by the notification service; and

an act of the listener component placing the notification in its internal processing format into a corresponding outgoing queue.

46. A method in accordance with claim 44, wherein the step for processing the notification in a scalable fashion comprises the following:

an act of a routing component of one or more routing components receiving the notification from the outgoing queue corresponding to the listener component at a corresponding incoming queue;

an act of the routing component determining a delivery component to route the notification to of one or more delivery components; and

an act of the routing component placing the notification in a corresponding outgoing queue.